Minority members becoming soft on Gov’t – Analyst

A Political Commentator and Head of the Linguistics Department at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST, has hit hard at members of Ghana’s biggest opposition party, particularly those from the Ashanti Region, for what he describes as a “gradual softening of stance on the policies spelt out by the incumbent government.

Dr. Charles Marfo, who was speaking on Ultimate Radio’s What’s Going On programme, is of the view that the vibrancy that characterizes an opposition in parliament in critiquing policies and putting government on its toes is losing its pace.

“I don’t see the present administration being challenged very much by the opposition we have. The minority seems to be condoning and abetting whatever is being perpetrated on us. Unfortunately, I don’t see any alternative views anywhere,” he opined.

Dr. Marfo, who was commenting on the President’s state of the nation address delivered to Parliament on Tuesday, was hard on the minority legislators of the opposition New Patriotic Party, particularly those from the Ashanti Region, for doing little to prove a formidable front in projecting national issues often glossed over by the incumbent administration.

“We are expecting so much from the minority MPs, especially those from the Ashanti Region which has a majority of its parliamentarians. You don’t even see a connection amongst them; you don’t see statements from them. Gone are the days when immediately after a budget was read by the government, you will find the opposition coming out with some kind of alternatives, but all these things have stopped,” he lamented with disappointment.

According to Dr. Charles Marfo, the posturing of the minority caucus in Tuesday’s state of the nation address betrayed a certain level of connivance and sympathy towards President John Dramani Mahama.

“Sometimes, I am tempted to believe they are in the same business the President and his cohorts are involved in and cannot solve, and so could, therefore, not talk about them,” he said.

He believes the minority’s authority and responsibility to offer alternative solutions to the nation’s problems is gradually being compromised. He called on the opposition members of parliament to prove themselves worthy by bringing up alternatives, and prove more vibrant in holding the majority side of government to task.